What a long way we have come... 

A Thursday morning in November 2021 saw me sprinting between the Hall (Year 5s), the Studio (Year 4s) and the Gym (Year 6s) over the space of half an hour in an attempt to keep everyone rehearsing a piece as part of KS2 Choir. With Covid-19 numbers rising through the school, singing was restricted to year group bubbles, girls spaced at least 1m apart, in well-ventilated spaces for a strictly limited time. At the time, singing was considered to increase risk of aerosol transmission of Covid-19. Something as straight-forward as whole school singing assembly was a distant memory.   

I was determined that we would not cancel rehearsals and continue to sing as safely possible. I was already seeing diminishing levels of confidence through the lack of singing from March 2020 onwards and was desperate to prevent it getting any worse; joyful singing is something that has always run through the heart of Blackheath High Junior School.    

This low point proved to be the start of a hopeful idea. What if as many schools as possible came together to sing, share and perform? Being part of the GDST means that we have strong links with other schools within our Trust and I knew my frustrations as a music teacher were shared by colleagues in our sister schools. It felt almost too much to wish for at the time – could we make it happen? 

After months of planning, 321 singers, including the whole of Blackheath High’s Year 5, came together on 7 February 2023 at Woolwich Works, a stunning new venue not far from our school, for a new GDST pilot event – GDST Junior Sing. The size of the venue allowed for us to include eight schools – whole year groups or choirs – where all children felt included and part of something quite spectacular.

And spectacular it was. The performers had all learned Along Came Man, a cantata of thirteen songs, which took them on a journey around the globe, singing about the human impact on rainforests, oceans, deserts and meadowlands. They sang about extinct animals, marvelled at the beauty of our globe and committed to working together to resolve to help the planet. This work was composed by Lin Marsh and the girls were fortunate to be rehearsed and then conducted by Lin herself. Accompanying these songs were massed body percussion pieces, led by Ollie Tunmer of Beat Goes On.   

The concert in the evening was attended by many members of the GDST community and was a truly beautiful moment which emphatically ended those months of enforced silence, which are now, thankfully, hopefully, long behind us. The whole day was everything I had envisioned – girls from across the GDST family greeting each other, making friends, singing, stamping, clapping, moving and performing together. Everyone left on a high; music was the platform that provided this.  

Heartfelt thanks to all the girls in Year 5 at Blackheath High School who took part in this concert with characteristic enthusiasm and energy; what an incredible group of young musicians you are and I hope you will remember this day for a long time to come. 

Written by Ruth Coles, Head of Junior School Music 

Watch the GDST Sing video and some of the highlights of this fabulous event below; and read the press coverage.